This
automotive maintenance tutorial was specifically written to assist
owners of the first generation (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and
2008) Honda Pilot AWD SUV equipped with the VTEC 3.5 liter V6 engine in
draining the old automatic transmission fluid and refilling with new
ATF fluid.

Owners of other
Honda or Acura vehicles such as the Accord, Civic, Crosstour, CR-V, CR-Z,
Fit, Insight, Odyssey, Pilot, Ridgeline, ILX, TSX, TLX, TL, RLX, RDX,
NSX
and MDX may also find these DIY instructions to be helpful.

The first two steps
are to open the hood and then move to the right (driver) side of the engine
bay.

The ATF filler bolt should be
removed to help prevent a vacuum from forming and allow the old fluid to
drain out more quickly.

Look behind the air intake hose and down to
locate the ATF filler bolt.

It is situated in between the brake fluid
reservoir and the plastic engine cover. The letters "ATF" are stamped on the
bolt head.

Attach the 17mm socket to a long extension
bar and a 3/8" or a 1/2" drive socket.

Loosen the ATF filler bolt by turning it
counterclockwise. The bolt was very tight on this 2006 Pilot and we had to
use a long breaker bar (actually we had to use a bicycle seat post). I
recommend wearing gloves to prevent from busting your knuckles.

If you have difficulty removing the filler
bolt even with a breaker bar, try warming up the engine for 10-15 minutes or
spray a very small amount of penetrating oil on to the bolt.

Some Pilot owners with especially stubborn
filler bolts that will not budge, opt to simply refill the transmission
fluid by using a plastic hose inserted in to the dipstick tube or a some
slightly larger vinyl tubing slid snugly over the dipstick tube.

If you choose to refill the ATF by using the
dipstick tube, it will take a bit longer and require some patience.

Once the filler bolt is loose, spin it out
the rest of the way by hand to prevent from having it fall down in to the
engine bay.

(If you have an early 2003 or 2004 model year
Pilot that underwent the automatic transmission recall, the filler bolt may
have been replaced with an "A/T Oil Jet Kit". You can remove the jet kit by
loosening the single 12mm bolt and refill the ATF. Or you can just refill
through the dipstick tube with a vinyl hose or a narrow diameter funnel.)

Honda recommends using genuine OEM Honda ATF DW-1. The original fluid
was ATF-Z1 which has been discontinued.

A "power flush" of the ATF is not recommended
and can lead to problems. If you would like to perform a "flush", I
recommend performing a drain and refill, driving for 5 miles and then repeat
the procedure a few more times. Performing a drain and refill of the ATF
several times should replace at least eighty to ninety percent of the
original fluid.

Lift the dipstick
up about an inch or two to allow air to escape when you pour in the new
fluid.

Slowly pour the new ATF in to
the funnel.

Since we measured that 3.5 U.S. quarts were
removed, we poured in 3.5 quarts of new ATF.

(This Pilot model has AWD: all wheel drive.
The fluid required might be different for the FWD, front wheel drive,
vehicles.)

If you don't want to measure the amount of
old fluid, I recommend only pouring in 3 quarts, start the engine, run the
transmission through the gears, turn off the engine and allow the fluid to
flow back down to the pan for at least 5 to 10 minutes before checking the
level.

Pull it out, wipe it clean, re-insert it and
pull it out again to check the fluid level.

If necessary, slowly pour in more fluid and
re-check the dipstick until the level reaches just at or below the upper
hole on the tip of the dipstick that indicates the "Maximum" or "Full" line.

You should have about 1/2 quart of ATF left
over that can be used for the next drain and refill in about 45K miles or
30K miles if you have "severe" driving conditions such as towing or stop and
go city driving. If you drive mostly on the highway, you could stretch that
maintenance interval to 60,000 miles.

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